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Early signs of pregnancy aside from amenorrhea

My menstruation is irregular, so it would be difficult for me to know if I'm pregnant or not if I'll base it on the absence of my menstruation. What are the other early signs of pregnancy that I should take note of?

Some of the symptoms arrive later than others. Since you have an irregular period and believe you may be pregnant, I would recommend getting a test or visiting with your preferred maternal care provider just to be sure.

Early pregnancy symptoms can often be mimicked by hormonal imbalance so you may find that even if you get a negative pregnancy test you may also have some of the typical pregnancy signs like sore breasts, gas and bloating or even nausea. It's just really difficult for a woman who has irregular cycles to know whether she's pregnant or not simply by the typical signs of pregnancy.

A pregnant test is the best way to determine pregnancy, and now there are home pregnancy tests being made which are highly sensitive and can give a very accurate reading. If you take a test and it's negative, then take another test 7 days later. If it's still negative, then take another test 3 days after that. A highly sensitive test can pick up the hCG hormone as early as 9 days post conception.

A few other early pregnancy signs I had were:

- Noticing the veins in my chest were more "blue" than normal (with my first pregnancy).
- A somewhat wet discharge starting the day after conception with my 4th and 5th pregnancies (I never went back to being "dry").
- Light abdominal cramping starting about 2 weeks after conception and lasting for a couple of weeks with my 4th and 5th pregnancies (I only very rarely had cramping during my periods, and never more than a day).

I thought I had the flu at first, then my period never came. The next symptom for me was a constant feeling of hunger. I did not experience much morning sickness, just some nausea. It was a good thing since I was over 20 weeks before I told anyone I was pregnant. Constant puking would have likely tipped them off that something was wrong.